Is Statistics a Science?

A distinction is drawn between science and technology. The former has been studied by Karl Popper and his ideas are widely accepted; the latter has had less attention. The inter-relations of the two are considered and it is pointed out that neither can be said to underlie or dominate the other thoug...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of the Royal Statistical Society, Series a (General) Series a (General), 1978-01, Vol.141 (3), p.385-393
Main Author: Healy, M. J. R.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Applied statistics
Biomedical technology
Clinical trials
collingwood
Engineering
Experimentation
Inductive reasoning
Medical practice
overlap of concepts
popper
Research methods
science
Statistics
Technology
the and practice
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Summary:A distinction is drawn between science and technology. The former has been studied by Karl Popper and his ideas are widely accepted; the latter has had less attention. The inter-relations of the two are considered and it is pointed out that neither can be said to underlie or dominate the other though practitioners of each are often intolerant of the alternative approach. Statistics may have a more important role to play in technology than in science; it may itself best be considered as a technology rather than as a science. These ideas are discussed in the context of the teaching and practice of statistics in general and medical statistics in particular.
ISSN:0035-9238
0964-1998
2397-2327
DOI:10.2307/2344809